Speaking about the Prison Service Annual Report Minister Fitzgerald said: “ Despite a small increase of 2.7% in the total committals to prison the overall daily average number of prisoners in custody has continued to fall. The overall daily average number of prisoners in custody in 2014 was 3,915 compared to 4,158 in 2013, a decrease of 5.8%.” There were 16,155 committals to prison in 2014 compared to 15,735 in 2013. The increase is attributed to an 8% increase in the numbers committed on sentences of less than 3 months specifically those committed for the non-payment of a court
ordered fine.

The Minister responded to this saying: “The aim of the Fines (Payments and Recovery) Act is to eliminate, in so far as possible, the option of imprisonment as a sanction for fine default. Once the significant changes required to the fines system are implemented, the effects of this legislation on the number of committals to prison for the non-payment of a court ordered fine should be seen. The system will be operational from October this year.”

The 2014 Annual Report for the Irish Prison Service sets out the progress made in relation to its strategic actions and also outlines developments during the year. The report provides an overview of the Service, general information on the prison estate, and reports on progress made to the end of 2014 on the Service’s Three Year Strategic Plan which was launched in April, 2012. The Report also includes a reference to the action plan put in place to ensure the recommendations of the Commission of Investigation into the Death of Gary Douch, relating to the Irish Prison Service, are being implemented.